School for disaster training

Monday

Feb 20, 2012 at 6:27 AMFeb 20, 2012 at 6:28 AM

Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

APPLE VALLEY • Out in the middle of the desert, with the Walmart Distribution Center its closest neighbor, a new Victor Valley College facility featuring some of the latest training equipment for the emergency services fields has opened for students.

There's a nine-lane indoor shooting range for live and virtual fire simulations, and a five-story burn tower that's believed to be the largest in the state.

At first glance, a spacious prop yard resembles a movie set, with a wrecked car atop a pile of rubble, a small-scale collapsed parking garage and a 23,631-gallon tanker on a small strip of railroad.

Alongside a parking lot shaded by solar-panel canopies, there are more than 41,000 square feet of buildings with new computer labs, student lounges, classrooms and offices.

VVC officials envision that the new $31.6 million facility will grow into an elite training center for public safety professionals throughout the state. It's the first time that VVC's programs in administration of justice, emergency medical services and fire science/firefighting will be in one centralized location, and each program is getting new technology and resources, including a large garage to house emergency vehicles.

"It's our hope we can put this place on the map and make it a training destination for all the disciplines," said David Oleson, director of VVC emergency medical services programs. "This facility will really give us the opportunity to do some innovative things. We've never all been under the same roof so it's really exciting to think of the possibilities."

The first classes started this week at the newly completed VVC Regional Public Safety Training Center at Johnson and Navajo roads, with up to about 200 students among the first to break in the new buildings.

"It's definitely an honor to be a part of this," firefighter-in-training Anthony Cedenas, 19, of Hesperia, said. "It has just about everything, from HAZMAT training to low-angle rescue, all in one place."

It's the first major construction project completed through Measure JJ, the $297.5 million bond measure approved by voters in 2008. The bond measure is costing taxpayers $20 per $100,000 of assessed property value annually until the bond is paid off with interest, which will take an estimated 30 to 35 years.

As Cedenas and fellow students washed helmets and other equipment on Thursday, they spoke with enthusiasm about drills they'll get to do in coming weeks, including getting to feel what it's like trapped inside a burning building, with the burn tower's mobile walls making it so each student's simulation can be different.

Previously, VVC's firefighting program relied on public agencies to donate buildings set to be demolished to do a live burn simulation once a year. With the burn tower, they can do simulations once a week — a kitchen scenario one class, a commercial structure the next, according to Paul Nadreau, academy coordinator of the fire technology department.

Oleson used to take his paramedic students to an outside space on the main campus and tell them to imagine various rescue scenarios; now he can take them to the prop yard to practice life-saving skills on a collapsible building with plumbing and gas lines, or manhole covers and tunnels blocked by tons of concrete.

A large room with a mat-covered floor will be used for defense tactics training, whereas such classes used to be held in triple-wide portables at the college's main campus about 15 miles away from the new center.

Aside from VVC students, the facility will be available for rent by outside agencies. The facility's "CERT City" can be used for local emergency worker volunteers, with portions of the building capable of mimicking anything from a jailhouse to an auto body shop.

Instructors said they are especially excited about being able to collaborate across public safety disciplines. A multi-casualty drill, for instance, can show students how to cooperate with other agencies during an emergency such as the 2003 tour bus crash in Baker, when two vehicles collided and more than 100 people were injured.

"Now we can work together here in doing scenario training. The cops pull up to the scene, we call in the paramedics, we call in fire — there's all kinds of training we couldn't do before," said Michael Visser, administration of justice professor. "This will be one of the — probably the most — futuristic, advanced training centers that exist in California."

On April 21, the college will be hosting a grand opening celebration, including afternoon tours and demonstrations for the public. More details on that public ceremony will be announced in coming weeks.

Natasha Lindstrom may be reached at (760) 951-6232 or at NLindstrom@VVDailyPress.com.

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